


Home for Christmas

by gr8escap



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Carols, M/M, Stucky Secret Santa 2016, bucky barnes is santa's elf, steve rogers is tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 07:19:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9062113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gr8escap/pseuds/gr8escap
Summary: My 2016 Stucky Secret Santa gift for @mahomie-sara-9-84





	

 

  


[Originally posted by butteryplanet](http://tmblr.co/ZZGNTl1yFjMxg)

 

Steve could smell the spices before he even had the key in the lock. He’d been separated from Bucky for two weeks with each of them on separate missions. First, Bucky was gone to Africa with Clint and Sam as a favor to T’Challa, and then Steve had answered a call from Tony, working to bridge the chasm in their relationship, and to improve the standing of The Avengers as a whole.

Tony’s and Steve’s rift was tentatively patched, and the two had offered holiday greetings to one another, even if Steve wasn’t exactly feeling festive. Sure, the carols on the radio in the cab, and the cabbie with his Santa hat had made Steve smile against his better judgement, but all he really wanted was to come home, kiss his boyfriend, and sink into the sofa for a decade. He’d spent seven decades in ice, surely one lousy ten-year stretch, wrapped in blankets, and being serenaded by Bucky wasn’t too much to ask.

Stepping through the door, the sight that reached him wasn’t anything he’d expected. Bucky appeared half dressed in some lounge pants and a tank top, barefoot, half-decked in garland, and a silly Santa hat was perched askew over the mop of hair that may or may not have been combed when he got out of bed.

There were lights blinking in a rainbow of candy colors, from a ball of wire and bulbs that wasn’t doing anything, other than lying at the end of the cord, plugged into the wall. There was a tree balancing precariously in the tree stand, and the room smelled like cookies, cakes, and pine. The radio serenaded the complex festive image, with Bucky singing heartily along with Eartha Kitt to _Santa Baby_.

Bucky’s pirouette brought him face to face with Steve, and he grinned, Steve noted the pink tint on Bucky’s cheeks and smirked, “What’s all this?”

Bucky stopped, the song became lost to the distant past and dissolved to mere background noise. He was still finding his place, after coming home from Wakanda, and slowly starting to date Steve, in addition to living with him out of necessity. Months later, their relationship had finally started to fit into place, but with the moody question from Steve, he pinched his lower lip between his teeth, and furrowed his brow as he formulated his excuse. “It’s Christmas,” was all he’d mustered before Steve’s hand touched his cheek.

“I know that.” Steve’s smile was tender.

“I should have waited. I should have asked.”

“That’s bullshit.” Steve declared, unable to look away from Bucky’s lips. “It’s your home too. Carry on.”

“You wanna help?” Bucky asked, once he realized Steve’s tone matched his expression.

The sofa, and the desired decade of laziness, drew Steve’s eye, but Bucky’s invitation was too inviting. “I had been looking forward to seeing if I could dissolve into the couch. But this is a much better offer.” Steve leaned in to capture Bucky’s lips in a kiss.

Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist, “Tough mission? How was it with Stark?” He asked, his lips brushing Steve’s neck with the words.

“Tough being away from this for so long.” Steve replied, pulling away slightly, “Let me get my boots off, put something comfortable on, and maybe I can channel this Christmas spirit thing. You wanna keep singing? I could enjoy being serenaded into the holiday mood.”

“First, let _me_ get you something hot to drink, and something to sweeten your mood.” Bucky couldn’t resist running his hands through Steve’s hair. “Hot toddy or spiced cider?”

“Surprise me.” Steve gave Bucky another quick peck before pulling away and heading toward their shared bedroom, “God it’s good to be home.”

Bucky pulled a loaf of spiced applesauce bread from the oven with a smile, and sliced it, whistling along to _The Christmas Song_. He was pouring the hot beverage when he heard Steve call out from the other room, “What was the plan with the sparkling rainbow ball?”

“It’s supposed to be a continuous string of lights. I don’t know what you did to make it look like that. I thought I’d leave it for you to fix.” Bucky called back between the rooms.

“I had Christmas thrust upon me last year,” Steve replied, as he resisted grinning at the ugliest t-shirt he’d ever seen, spread across his side of the bed. It had swooping text encircling a large Christmas stocking, the text read, “Hung like a Stocking”. He side-eyed the bedroom door with defeat, grinning while he pulled the shirt over his head. “I took it down early and stuffed it in boxes. I deserve the chore of undoing my tantrum.”

Bucky threw back his head and laughed when Steve walked in wearing a pair of sweat pants and _the shirt_. It was the dumbest thing he could remember seeing, but it had given him such a laugh when he saw it, that he was buying it before he knew what was happening. “I see you found my gift.”

“Classy. Laugh it up.” Steve muttered, as he bumped against Bucky, after he took the hot drink from his hand. “Thank you.”

“Of course, I saw it and immediately thought of you.”

“I meant for the drink.” Steve jostled Bucky’s arm playfully. “I’m still thinking about this eyesore.”

Bucky held a warm slice of bread up between him and Steve with a smile, “this will make up for it.”

Steve took a bite and tossed his head back in delight, “Aw Buck, this is heaven.” He turned to face Bucky, and kissed him. Bucky tasted the warm spicy bread and the hot bourbon from the Toddy on Steve’s kiss.

“Here, have the rest. Then you get to untangle the sparkling ball of lights.” Bucky patted Steve’s rear as he brushed past, dancing back toward the naked tree to the tune of _It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas_.

Steve followed, stuffing the last bit of the bread into his mouth, humming along to the song. He resigned himself to the untangling, and gracefully lowered himself to the floor near where Bucky was securing the tree in a straighter, upright position. “To the left a little Buck.”

“Thanks gorgeous.” Bucky winked over his shoulder as he adjusted the tree.

Steve smiled fondly, caught up in the music and the detail work of unraveling his self-made disaster. He loved listening to Bucky sing, but every so often found that he was singing along too.

Bucky kept looking up from his own project, putting elaborate swirling hooks on the ornaments, to see Steve methodically pulling strands through tangles of candy-colored lights, “I guess we could just replace it. We should just wrap it up in ribbon and make it look intentional.”

“Funny. It’s coming along. It’s almost relaxing.” Steve admitted, as he was getting to a point in the unraveling where he could see the end of the project.

They worked together, bumping against each other, and singing along to each carol that played, as they strung the lights on the tree. “You ever expect we’d be doing this?” Steve asked, taking a length of the light string from Bucky, their hands brushing with the action.

“Did you? It wasn’t even on my radar.” Bucky put his hand on Steve’s bicep, “I’m just glad this is where we are now.”

Steve looked, really looked at Bucky. He smiled warmly as he noticed how Bucky’s eyes twinkled brighter than the lights from the tree, and he looked more at home, more relaxed, than Steve had ever imagined he’d be. “You wanna know something? I thought I was dreading Christmas again, even as I came through the door, because that’s how it’s been for the past several years. Turns out, just like everything else, it was just missing you.”

Bucky’s arms snaked around Steve’s waist, and they stood with the tree brushing their bare arms, “I can’t guarantee I’ll always be such a festive little elf, so let’s embrace it when it happens, huh?”

“Yeah, lets.” Steve agreed, popping a kiss on Bucky’s nose.

If anyone were to look into the apartment at that moment, they’d see two young men, embracing the holiday spirit. Dancing around a half-decorated tree, wearing more of the decorations than the tree was. Steve serenaded Bucky and adjusted the drape of his garland boa, and Bucky intentionally butchered _All I Want for Christmas is You_ , by drawing out all of the wrong notes, while using the same garland to tie Steve’s hands behind his back and kissing Steve, and then pulling away before Steve could return the favor.

They’d see two happy super soldiers sampling Christmas cookies and putting ornaments on the tree, teasing each other by repositioning the other’s placement, or hurrying to put their own decoration in the one place they saw the other going for.

Once all of the colorful ornaments were placed, Bucky tugged Steve by both arms over to the couch, “Let’s do a little bit of that dissolving into the sofa that you mentioned. Come let me snuggle you.”

“Snuggle? Seriously Buck?”

“We could call it something else? Should we use wrestling terms in place of snuggle and cuddle?”

“We could just go back to snuggling.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head. “Thank you for doing all of this. This year, I promise I won’t take it down prematurely.”

“I’m so glad you decided to join me instead of letting the couch consume you. This one’s good… sing it with me Stevie.”

Christmas Eve will find me  
Where the love light gleams.

I'll be home for Christmas  
If only in my dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> My 2016 Stucky Secret Santa gift for @mahomie-sara-9-84


End file.
